Early on in this ridiculous virus police-state nonsense, I posed a question. Where do you confine people for violating the stay-at-home order if it’s unjust to confine people who might then get the thing (in confinement) for which we are all being told to say home?
The answer is “cut to black, the music fades, house lights up.”
There is no answer. But Vermont is giving it the old progressive snowflake college try.
Attorney General T.J. Donovan outlined Friday a set of procedures and punishments available to law enforcement officers to apply while the mandate remains in effect to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Civil penalties could include fines of up to $1,000 a day. Criminal enforcement, reserved for “extraordinary circumstances,” may include a $500 fine and imprisonment of up to six months, according to Donovan’s directive.
If you are not an essential business doing business or an individual out for any of the approved purposes the Green Mountain Gestapo might have to put you on their list. Repeat offenders will be “educated,” with repeat offenses resulting in fines and possibly even jail.
Because we’re all being bullsh*tted together!
The steps are as follows:
► Police contact individuals and businesses not adhering to the mandate, educate them about the restrictions and establish expectations for compliance. Those contacted “should be warned that they may be subject to civil or criminal penalties.”
► After attempting to gain voluntary compliance, law enforcement officials report the incident to the state’s Department of Public Safety and flag issues they believe need further attention.
► Donovan’s office will respond to the flagged reports and discuss possible follow-up efforts with the submitting law enforcement agency.
► Should further action be required, the Attorney General’s office can initiate civil enforcement through a superior court injunction. Penalties could include a fine of up to $1,000 per day the violation continues as well as any penalties called for by municipal ordinances.
► Criminal enforcement — a fine and/or imprisonment, as mentioned above — will be the last resort.
Keep in mind that 0.08% of the state has been identified with a confirmed case of Chinese flu. That’s 7% of everyone tested. A total of 0.0046% of the state population has been hospitalized with the virus. We do not if the virus complicated a pre-existing health issue or the age of those hospitalized.
We hope for the best for anyone in critical condition as a result of any health issue, but the question remains. Why are we threatening to fine or jail people over the seasonal flu with a name and a reputation it has not lived up to in northern New England?
